Puppy Help Sheet - Short summary of Puppy care tips
1. Schedule your Puppies first vet appointment before you pick up your new puppy.. Vaccinate puppy on schedule. But do NOT allow your veterinary to administer vaccinations closer than 3 weeks apart! We deworm puppies every 2 weeks. But this is an ongoing process. Get a fecal test from your vet to continue to check for worms and parasites. Follow up with any further wormings until your puppy is on a monthly Heartworm medication.
2. Feed Puppy 3 - 4 xs a day ...soften food with water for the first few days. ..do not change his brand for the first 2 weeks. Preferrably keep same food for the first year.
3. Provide water at all times the first week. Offer water according to Potty schedule after first week. During the hottest months excercise caution and offer water more often. .Remove food and water according to Potty schedule to facilitate puppy sleeping through the night.
4. Confine Puppy in a Wire crate (or Plastic Pen whenever you cannot supervise your puppy. Enlarge freedom area slowly as puppy become more reliable. Do not consider a puppy as having mastered the schedule until he or she has been accident free for at least 2 weeks.
5. Puppies can hold their bladder 1 hour for each month of their age. They do not have bladder control until 16 weeks of age. Your puppies Potty success relies on your success in adhering to the schedule. You cannot expect complete potty training reliability on the part of the puppy until about 6 months of age.
6. Pee Pee: Puppies need to go pee pee after every nap, and about 15 minutes after they drink or eat dinner. When you take puppies out to potty after they wake up from a nap they usually go pee pee right away. Allow at least 5 minutes to be sure your puppy has eliminated completely. Some puppies will need to pee twice.
7. Poo Poo: Puppies go poo poo after every meal usually within 20 - 30 minutes. Activity will help speed that up.
8. New puppies are teething and should always have appropriate chew toys. Keep a chew toy in hand when you hold your puppy so they won't chew on you. If a puppy is mouthing you then put a teething toy in his mouth right away. After a puppy is 3 - 4 months old you may need to yelp and stop play to teach him not to bite hard.. If a puppy is too rambunctious and biting give him quiet time in his crate. He will learn that play time ends when he does not play appropriately. Biting should start to drop off by 4 months of age.
9. Teach puppy to enjoy his crate and pen, by letting him get settled there during the first few weeks. Do not allow him to roam the house. Only let him out during supervised play time.
10. Provide stuffed Kongs and Chew toys to your puppy when you leave the house for extended periods of time. That will ease the separation anxiety.
Kongs are also a great way to get a puppy use to settling down in a crate. (Stuff with wet kibble mixed with treats and frozen in the freezer)
11. Introduce your puppy to as many people and pets as possible during his first year. Make sure each meeting will be a fool proof positive experience by talking to the person first to be sure they or their pet will react appropriately to your puppy. Keep track of the number of new people/pets on your calendar, so you can be sure you keep up with this.
13. Keep your veterinary appointments. Provide Heartworm medication once a month. Administer Flea Medication on schedule. Be aware of the side affects of any Flea medication you administer so can discontinue the medication immediately if there is a side effect. People often assume there is some other problem with their puppy when the answer is as simple as their flea medication
14 Spay or Neuter your pet by 6 months of age. (our research indicates that the early spay and neuters have the quickest recovery)
15. Puppy Proof your house! Remove all electrical cords and choking hazards from puppy play areas. Be aware of foods, house plants, that are poisonous so you can keep them away from your puppy. Keep medications in a safe place where puppies cannot find them.
16 Never allow new puppy to roam the house until he is reliably house trained! You will create potty training problems. Increase puppies play space and area of independence very gradually as the months go by.
2. Feed Puppy 3 - 4 xs a day ...soften food with water for the first few days. ..do not change his brand for the first 2 weeks. Preferrably keep same food for the first year.
3. Provide water at all times the first week. Offer water according to Potty schedule after first week. During the hottest months excercise caution and offer water more often. .Remove food and water according to Potty schedule to facilitate puppy sleeping through the night.
4. Confine Puppy in a Wire crate (or Plastic Pen whenever you cannot supervise your puppy. Enlarge freedom area slowly as puppy become more reliable. Do not consider a puppy as having mastered the schedule until he or she has been accident free for at least 2 weeks.
5. Puppies can hold their bladder 1 hour for each month of their age. They do not have bladder control until 16 weeks of age. Your puppies Potty success relies on your success in adhering to the schedule. You cannot expect complete potty training reliability on the part of the puppy until about 6 months of age.
6. Pee Pee: Puppies need to go pee pee after every nap, and about 15 minutes after they drink or eat dinner. When you take puppies out to potty after they wake up from a nap they usually go pee pee right away. Allow at least 5 minutes to be sure your puppy has eliminated completely. Some puppies will need to pee twice.
7. Poo Poo: Puppies go poo poo after every meal usually within 20 - 30 minutes. Activity will help speed that up.
8. New puppies are teething and should always have appropriate chew toys. Keep a chew toy in hand when you hold your puppy so they won't chew on you. If a puppy is mouthing you then put a teething toy in his mouth right away. After a puppy is 3 - 4 months old you may need to yelp and stop play to teach him not to bite hard.. If a puppy is too rambunctious and biting give him quiet time in his crate. He will learn that play time ends when he does not play appropriately. Biting should start to drop off by 4 months of age.
9. Teach puppy to enjoy his crate and pen, by letting him get settled there during the first few weeks. Do not allow him to roam the house. Only let him out during supervised play time.
10. Provide stuffed Kongs and Chew toys to your puppy when you leave the house for extended periods of time. That will ease the separation anxiety.
Kongs are also a great way to get a puppy use to settling down in a crate. (Stuff with wet kibble mixed with treats and frozen in the freezer)
11. Introduce your puppy to as many people and pets as possible during his first year. Make sure each meeting will be a fool proof positive experience by talking to the person first to be sure they or their pet will react appropriately to your puppy. Keep track of the number of new people/pets on your calendar, so you can be sure you keep up with this.
13. Keep your veterinary appointments. Provide Heartworm medication once a month. Administer Flea Medication on schedule. Be aware of the side affects of any Flea medication you administer so can discontinue the medication immediately if there is a side effect. People often assume there is some other problem with their puppy when the answer is as simple as their flea medication
14 Spay or Neuter your pet by 6 months of age. (our research indicates that the early spay and neuters have the quickest recovery)
15. Puppy Proof your house! Remove all electrical cords and choking hazards from puppy play areas. Be aware of foods, house plants, that are poisonous so you can keep them away from your puppy. Keep medications in a safe place where puppies cannot find them.
16 Never allow new puppy to roam the house until he is reliably house trained! You will create potty training problems. Increase puppies play space and area of independence very gradually as the months go by.